Exploring the Nonhuman Other: A Study of Posthuman Care in Isaac Asimov's The Bicentennial Man and Ian McEwan's Machines Like Me.

With the rise of critical posthumanism, the concept of human comes under scrutiny. Human borders are increasingly thought to be permeable, with the concept of becoming-with being highly valued. With the growing perception that human history is intertwined and that humans have always been a dependent organism, the idea of human as an autonomous entity with agency and control over other beings--both living and nonliving--is highly questionable. The emotions and sufferings of nonhumans are regarded in a new light as the factor of transcorporeality is carefully investigated. In the current advanced science and technological scenario, this is well portrayed in certain science fiction works, where the machines shaped and created by humans in turn shape the humans themselves. Given this context, this article primarily analyses the care and trauma of the nonhumans (highly intelligent machines/robots) presented in Isaac Asimov's The Bicentennial Man and Ian McEwan's Machines Like Me. Secondarily, the article looks at the moral conundrum of upholding a policy of care and compassion for nonhumans (machines), which marks a novel development and further scope of inquiry. Finally, the article calls for the necessity to investigate nonhuman care and emotions, demonstrating that the binary between humans and nonhumans is indeed bleak as the borders between the two variables are not strong enough to prevent coevolution, which thereby views humans as a dependent species, an assemblage of various nonhuman constituent elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]